To
All Doves - Hopefully you will find the following writing a useful
ministry tool to remind your family and friends of the nearness of the
hour! It is certainly THE time!!

Please note that the listing
of "birth pangs" included in this writing below was extracted from Amy
Van Gerpen's wonderful website, http://www.trackingbibleprophecy.org, so
she deserves all the credit for this particular comprehensive bit of
information!

Be blessed all of you my brothers and sisters!!

WATCH, LEST YOU BE CAUGHT UNAWARES!!

Are you hearing from
select Christians who are talking about watching the signs of the times and
watching for the return of Jesus our Savior to take His bride?How does it make you feel to hear these
things?Does it make you roll your eyes
at them, or are you intrigued and want to hear more?Are you ready to hear these things, or is it
something you would rather not talk about?Are these select Christians just fooling themselves looking for
something that more than likely won’t happen in their lifetime?What makes them focus on this and want to
tell others?I will try to answer this
in this paper, and hopefully, you will see that the answer is really very
clear.The question is, are you willing
to accept it?

Before we go any
further, we are going to look at the Word of God, because after all, that is
the authority.The authority does not
come from a religion, a pastor, or any other human being whether a celebrity or
pauper; the authority is God’s alone, and He has so graciously told us all things
through the pages of the Bible.The
Bible is a gift for us that tells us all things – about the past, about the
present, and yes, about the future.So,
what does God say in His Word about all of this – about the return of Jesus,
about watching, and about our future?

Very importantly, Jesus Himself
commands us to watch.He doesn’t not
suggest it or encourage it; He commands it – that is because the consequences
of not doing so are devastating.Let’s
look at just a few of the scriptures that support this (there are actually many
more):

Matt 25:13:“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the
Son of Man is coming.”

Luke 21:36:“Watch therefore, and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all
these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

1Thess 5:6:“Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be
sober.”

Revelation 3:3:“Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and
repent.Therefore if you will not watch,
I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come
upon you.”

Before we move on, let’s
take a look at what watching does for us just in the normal sense of our
every-day lives.When you watch for
something, it makes you ready for it, and when you’re ready, you are prepared
to receive whatever it is.In addition,
being ready for something also helps you to avoid other things that could hurt
you.Think about playing baseball…When you’re watching and your head is in the
game, you are prepared to make that big play and do something great for your
team.In addition and very importantly,
watching prepares you to dodge the ball when it comes quickly whirling towards
your head!!We watch all the time for
the things in the world; why do we not watch for the return of Jesus and all
the things that he said would precede His coming?If you are truly not watching when He
returns, it will come upon you as a thief in the night – you won’t be prepared,
something will be stolen from you (you will miss Him), and you just might get
hurt (from the wrath of God that will follow).

I believe I have the
answer of why many Christians today do not watch for Jesus to return.It’s a matter of love.It’s very simply a matter of whether or not
your heart is truly in love with Jesus.God tells us in His Word to love the Lord God with all our heart, soul,
mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).Do we really love Him that much? Think of someone now that you deeply love with
all your heart.Envision that this
person went away for a long time, and they said they would come back for you
but didn’t give an exact time.Would you
be watching for their return?Would you
be yearning for their return?Wouldn’t
you want to see them again?That is
exactly how those feel who deeply love Jesus above all else.We are watching and anxiously awaiting His
return.We want to see Him, worship Him,
and love Him for the eternity that He has promised us.

Love for Jesus is the
driving force that prompts all born-again Christians to want to see Him again;
there is no debate of this.But why does
it seem that this “watching” has become so prevalent now, recently?Have you noticed that you are hearing more
and more about end times, even on the secular TV stations like the History
Channel?Surely you heard of the
minister who stepped out in faith to tell others that Jesus was coming back on
May 21, 2011?As we know, his prediction
did not come to pass.Although he was not
correct, it is apparent that he loves Jesus and wants desperately for Him to
return, and he felt a sense of urgency to warn others.And, yes it is true, Jesus does say in
Matthew 24:36 that we will not know the day or the hour, but it is very clear
in 1Thessalonians 5:3-5 and in many other implications throughout the Word that
we (who are watching) will know the season and won’t be overtaken like a thief!Even though this date-setting incident got
much negative attention, many Christians readied themselves by repenting and
living for the Lord, and there is certainly nothing unfruitful about that!!!They are now ready!!

Let’s now take our eyes
off man and what we want, desire, and think.Let’s look at the signs that Jesus Himself told us to watch for that
would precede His coming in Matthew chapter 24 as well as others listed
throughout the New Testament (and also in the other gospels as well). After the
disciples asked Him for the signs of His coming and the end of the age, He told
them the following (these are not His exact Words; I have paraphrased some in
summary):

·Budding of the Fig Tree (Rebirth of Israel)

·Deception/Fraud

·False Christs/Religions

·Wars and Rumors of Wars

·Nation rising against Nation and Kingdom
against Kingdom

·Famines

·Pestilences/Disease

·Earthquakes in Various Places

·Persecution of Christians

·Many Offended, Betraying and Hating One
Another

·False Prophets Deceiving Many

·Lawlessness despisers of good)

·Love of Many Growing Cold (unloving,
unforgiving,

·Gospel Preached in all the World

·Signs in the Heavens

·Just as it was in the Days of Noah (eating, drinking,
marrying, etc.); Oblivious of the Times

·Increase in Scoffers who Deny His Coming

·Men being Lovers of Money, Themselves, and of
Fleshly Pleasures Instead of God

·Brutality/Violence

·Pride and Blasphemy

·Disobedience to Parents

·Perilous Times

Now we need to take a
look at the reality of what has actually been going on; are we seeing any of
these signs that Jesus mentioned??Before
we do this, however, let’s get one thing cleared up.Many Christians and non-Christians alike have
commented, “These kinds of things have always happened; this is really nothing
new.”Yes, some of these things have
happened in the past, but many not to the same extreme and certainly not with
the intensity and frequency as we are witnessing now.What we are seeing now are the birth pangs
leading up to the wrath of God explained very clearly in the books of the
prophets as well as in Revelation – they are increasing in intensity and
frequency, just as birth pangs do with a pregnant woman nearing the delivery of
her baby – just as Jesus said they would.

Very importantly, these
things are happening now, 63 years after the birth of Israel on May 14,
1948.In Matthew 24:32-34, Jesus said
that when the fig tree (Israel) buds and shoots forth its branches (comes alive
again and re-birthed), the generation that sees this will not pass until all
things of the end have taken place. (1 & 2)Psalm 90:10 states that a generation or
lifespan of man is 70 years, or 80 if he has the strength.It doesn’t take a math scholar to determine
that there are not many years left between the time this event happened and the
length of a generation.The re-birth of
Israel was extremely significant and basically started the end times clock that
is now ticking before us.We are sitting
smack dab in the time preceding the return of Jesus, and this is exactly how
God planned it and revealed it to us in His Word.

So now, let us look at
the some of the happenings just in the last year since January 1, 2011.Do these events line up with the signs that
Jesus gave us listed above?(Refer to (3) for
more birth pangs prior to 1/1/11.)

·January 1 - 5,000 blackbirds
suddenly die in Beebe, Arkansas followed by other reports in the weeks after of other
massive bird and fish deaths

·July 22 - 85 children murdered in a
youth camp in Norway; 17 people killed in bombing in Norway

·July 23 - 6.4 magnitude earthquake
hits northern Japan

Do you realize that this
list includes nothing prior to 2011?!!!And some actually think that this is the way it has always been and
nothing has changed?!Please dear people, wake up and see that
your Lord is trying to warn you!!!If you are one of those scoffers saying nothing has changed, please get
your head out of the sand and don’t ignore the signs that Jesus is so
graciously showing us! (4)Remember, Jesus is a gentleman; He will
not force you to love Him or watch for Him, although He longs for this and for
us to be ready to see Him in His glory.You
will find Him if you will only seek Him – truly seek Him with an open heart!

Remember, Jesus made
you!He designed every inch of you in
HIS image.His love for you extends
beyond the boundaries of comprehension.And this same Lord who created the earth, placed all the stars and sun
and moon in their places, and created every living thing is trying to tell YOU
something!!He is playing out His Word
just as it is written right before our very eyes – if we would only be willing to
believe it!It is time to look up!It is time to know your God and yearn for His
holiness.It is time to live for Him and
Him alone!!Living for Him begins with
believing He is who He says He is and then truly repenting of your sin and
obeying Him.This first step can bring
about a Godly anguish, but it is in this state and in this place that you can
truly experience God and understand His love for you through His son, Jesus
Christ.This is purifies us and enables
us to see things through His eyes! (5)

I leave you with one
last thought and something for you to ponder…God gave this world to us as a gift.He told Adam to have dominion over all the earth and the things of the
earth and to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis
1:26-28).The earth was a gift to
us; however, some of us have made it our god.We worship the things of the earth, our material things, our futures,
and our pleasures.Don’t you see that
this earth is dying?Don’t you see that
it is corrupt and is headed for destruction?If this earth is your idol, then what will you have when it dies?Nothing!!You will have nothing left but the wages of your sin, and that is
death!!And please understand that the
earth in its current state will die; God said He will destroy this earth
with fire (2Peter 3:10).This is exactly why He tells us not to love the world and that if we
do, the love of the Father will not be in us (1John 2:15).Can you
imagine not having the love of the Lord in you and then being told by Jesus on
the day of His return, “Away from me, I never knew you!”?(Matthew
7:21-23)If this happens, you will
be separated from Jesus and His love for all of eternity.

Our hearts, minds,
souls, and bodies must love Jesus and all things of Him, including His return.Lift up your heads and watch!Give yourself completely to the one Holy and
Righteous God, Jesus, who died for you and all of your mistakes and sins to
make you holy and blameless in His sight.He is loving, forgiving, merciful, faithful, and patient – no matter
what you have done, no matter what the circumstances – no matter what!!However, when the patience of the Almighty
has run its course, the age of grace and mercy will be no more – only terrible
tribulation and wrath will remain.And
as it is written, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God (Hebrews 10:31).Please know that now, this very day, He is
trying to tell you that this day is quickly approaching.You
must be ready; therefore WATCH, lest you be caught unawares!

NOTE:As you can see, this writing is quite long, but it does not even scrape
the surface of what needs to be said.In
order to give you access to more information, I have made a few notes by number
at the end of some of my statements.These notes serve as reference points to resources where you can get
additional information on the specific topic.See the “Notes Key” below for these resources.

As
always, read the Word of God for yourself and make your own judgments and
conclusions.If you seek the truth, God
will show you, as the answer to every question and the truth of every situation
resides in the infallible Word of God.